Aircraft fueling apparatus and a method for its use

ABSTRACT

In an aspect, an aircraft fueling apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes at least a container comprising a fuel tank configured to store liquified gas fuel. The apparatus may also include a translocation device configured to carry the at least a container. An orientation guidance track may also be included in the apparatus. The orientation guidance track may be configured to direct a movement of the translocation device to a first position.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of air travel. Inparticular, the present invention is directed to an aircraft fuelingapparatus and a method for its use.

BACKGROUND

Aircraft are generally designed with strict constraints on weight andvolume. These constraints apply to all flight components includinglanding gear. Fueling practices associated with exciting new jetlineraircraft types include additional design requirements that typicallyrequire additional components that take up less space and weight.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an aspect, an aircraft fueling apparatus is disclosed. The apparatusincludes at least a container comprising a fuel tank configured to storeliquified gas fuel. The apparatus may also include a translocationdevice configured to carry the at least a container. An orientationguidance track may also be included in the apparatus. The orientationguidance track may be configured to direct a movement of thetranslocation device to a first position

In another aspect, method of use for an aircraft fueling apparatus isshown. The method may include storing, using at least a containercomprising a fuel tank configured to store liquified gas fuel. Themethod may also include using a translocation device configured to carrythe at least a container. Using an orientation guidance track, themethod may direct a movement of the translocation device to a firstposition

These and other aspects and features of non-limiting embodiments of thepresent invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art uponreview of the following description of specific non-limiting embodimentsof the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspectsof one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited to the precisearrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of an aircraftfueling apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a tank;

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a conicaltank;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of a curvedaxisymmetric tank;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of adouble-curved tank;

FIG. 6 is a front quarter view of an exemplary embodiment of a dual tankwith different diameters;

FIG. 7 is a quarter side view of an exemplary embodiment of a cambered,tapered tank;

FIG. 8A-8B illustrates an isometric and side quarter views of anexemplary embodiment of a dual cambered tank;

FIG. 9 shows a quarter front view of an exemplary embodiment of a doubletank;

FIG. 10 is a front quarter view of an exemplary embodiment of amulti-lobe tank without trimming;

FIG. 11 is a front quarter view of an exemplary embodiment of amulti-lobe tank trimmed with septa;

FIG. 12 illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary embodiment of atank with a plurality of tank support links;

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a cross-sectional view ofmulti-lobe tanks;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary embodiment of a blended wing body aircraft;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram for a method of use for an aircraft fuelingapparatus; and

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a computing system that can be used toimplement any one or more of the methodologies disclosed herein and anyone or more portions thereof.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale and may be illustrated byphantom lines, diagrammatic representations, and fragmentary views. Incertain instances, details that are not necessary for an understandingof the embodiments or that render other details difficult to perceivemay have been omitted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

At a high level, aspects of the present disclosure are directed to anaircraft fueling apparatus and a method for its use. The apparatusincludes at least a container. The apparatus may also include atranslocation device configured to carry the at least a container. Anorientation guidance track may also be included in the apparatus. Theorientation guidance track may be configured to direct a movement of thetranslocation device to a first position. Exemplary embodimentsillustrating aspects of the present disclosure are described below inthe context of several specific examples.

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. For purposes of descriptionherein, relating terms, including “upper,” “lower,” “left,” “rear,”“right,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal”, and derivatives thereofrelate to the orientation of embodiments shown herein for exemplarypurposes. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by anyexpressed or implied theory presented in this disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus 100for aircraft fueling. Apparatus 100 may include a computing device.Computing device may include any computing device as described in thisdisclosure, including without limitation a microcontroller,microprocessor, digital signal processor (DSP) and/or system on a chip(SoC) as described in this disclosure. Computing device may include, beincluded in, and/or communicate with a mobile device such as a mobiletelephone or smartphone. Computing device may include a single computingdevice operating independently, or may include two or more computingdevice operating in concert, in parallel, sequentially or the like; twoor more computing devices may be included together in a single computingdevice or in two or more computing devices. Computing device mayinterface or communicate with one or more additional devices asdescribed below in further detail via a network interface device.Network interface device may be utilized for connecting Computing deviceto one or more of a variety of networks, and one or more devices.Examples of a network interface device include, but are not limited to,a network interface card (e.g., a mobile network interface card, a LANcard), a modem, and any combination thereof. Examples of a networkinclude, but are not limited to, a wide area network (e.g., theInternet, an enterprise network), a local area network (e.g., a networkassociated with an office, a building, a campus or other relativelysmall geographic space), a telephone network, a data network associatedwith a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobile communications providerdata and/or voice network), a direct connection between two computingdevices, and any combinations thereof. A network may employ a wiredand/or a wireless mode of communication. In general, any networktopology may be used. Information (e.g., data, software etc.) may becommunicated to and/or from a computer and/or a computing device.Computing device may include but is not limited to, for example, acomputing device or cluster of computing devices in a first location anda second computing device or cluster of computing devices in a secondlocation. Computing device may include one or more computing devicesdedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic for loadbalancing, and the like. Computing device may distribute one or morecomputing tasks as described below across a plurality of computingdevices of computing device, which may operate in parallel, in series,redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution of tasks ormemory between computing devices. Computing device may be implementedusing a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at theworker, in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of apparatus 100and/or computing device.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 , computing device may be designedand/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence ofmethod steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in anyorder and with any degree of repetition. For instance, Computing devicemay be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly untila desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or asequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively usingoutputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions,aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregateresult, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as globalvariables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set ofiteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Computing device mayperform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure inparallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneouslyperforming a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads,processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threadsand/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable fordivision of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, uponreviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various waysin which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may besubdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion,and/or parallel processing.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , a block diagram of an exemplary embodimentof an aircraft fueling apparatus. Apparatus 100 may include a container104. As used in the current disclosure, a “container” is an enclosurefor holding matter. In embodiments, a container 104 may include one or aplurality of fuel tanks. In embodiments, a plurality of fuel tanks (alsoreferred to as a “tank”). In this disclosure, a “fuel tank” is acontainer specifically designed to hold fuel, which is often flammable.In an embodiment, a container 104 stores fuel to power aircraft 108. Acontainer 104 may be permanently attached to aircraft 108. As used inthis disclosure, “permanently attached” is when container 104 isconfigured to not be removed during ordinary use. For example, container104 that is permanently attached to aircraft may be removed duringmaintenance or overhaul but is otherwise a permanent flight component ofthe aircraft. A container 104 of a plurality containers may include oneor more compartments to store fuel in. A container 104 of a plurality ofcontainers may be a part of fuel delivery system for an engine, in whichthe fuel may be stored inside a container 104 and then propelled orreleased into an engine, such as without limitation a combustion engine.A container may be configured to be removably attached to an aircraft108.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , Container 104 may be a pressure vessel. A“pressure vessel” is a container configured to hold fluids at a pressurethat may differ from an ambient pressure. Pressure vessel may beconfigured to be pressurized in order to allow flow of gaseous hydrogenfrom a container 104, for example without a need to pump. In anembodiment, but without limitation, a container 104 may act as apressure vessel to store the fuel at a high pressures above 5 psig, 15psig, 50 psig, or the like. A container 104 may be made of any materialable to withstand such high pressure, such as but without limitation,aluminum, carbon fiber, composite materials, or the like. Furthermore, acontainer 104 may further include an inner wall and an outer wall. Asused herein, an “inner wall” is the inner barrier of a tank that is incontact with the fuel. As used herein, an “outer wall” is the outerbarrier of a tank that is exposed to the outside. There may beinsulation between the outer and inner wall. A container 104 may alsoinclude safety valves, closures, vessel threads, or any other featuresthat can be found on fuel tanks.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , Container 104 may further have a tankgeometry. “Tank geometry” refers to an overall shape and arrangement ofcontainer 104. Container 104 may have a multi-lobe geometry, such thatthe multi-lobe geometry includes one or more curvatures. As used herein,“multi-lobe geometry” refers to a shape include multiple curvatures or“lobes.” A “lobe” as used herein, is a curved section of the multi-lobegeometry. Multi-lobe geometry may have multiple lobes, wherein the startof one lobe is marked by a discontinuation in the curvature. Adiscontinuation in the curvature may occur when the curvature of a tankswitches between two non-adjacent values instantaneously orsubstantially instantaneously. The curvature of the tank may switchsubstantially instantaneously when there is a weld or other fastener. Inother embodiments, the curvature may switch substantiallyinstantaneously, when, for example, two lobes of a tank meet, but theintersection has been rounded or otherwise altered in order to, amongother things, reduce stress concentrations at the intersection point.For example, container 104 may have one or more surfaces with sphericaland/or cylindrical shapes. Each lobe of the multi-lobe tank geometry maybe configured to have a different radius. Container 104 may includevariable diameter and length. A lobe may be defined as a single sphereor cylinder of the plurality of spheres and/or cylinders. According tosome embodiments, tank geometry for a blended wing body aircraft 108 maybe driven by at least five objectives: (1) to provide as much fuelvolume as possible while using little payload floor space, (2) toprovide a fuel tank shape that resists pressure and that is lightweight,(3) to provide a fuel tank shape that can be insulated between outerwall and inner wall, (4) to provide a fuel center of gravity that is notwidely misaligned with the aircraft's center of gravity, and (5) toprovide fuel tanks that are compatible with a passenger cabin. In thisdisclosure, a “fuel center of gravity” is the center of gravity of thefuel inside container 104. In some cases, fuel center of gravity mayaffect overall aircraft center of gravity. Fuel center of gravity may beassociated with a volume within airplane that has sufficient volume tostore a practical quantity of fuel in discrete tanks. Container 104 maybe arranged inside aircraft 108 as a function of its fuel center ofgravity in relation to center of gravity of aircraft 108. Tank geometryis further discussed herein with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3A-N.

With continued reference to FIG. 1 , aircraft 108 may include anexemplary blended wing aircraft. Aircraft 100 may include a blended wingbody 1404 of FIG. 14 . For the purposes of this disclosure, a “blendedwing body aircraft” is an aircraft having a blended wing body. As usedin this disclosure, A “blended wing body” (BWB), also known as a“blended body” or a “hybrid wing body” (HWB), is a fixed-wing aircraftbody having no clear or abrupt demarcation between wings and a main bodyof the aircraft along a leading edge of the aircraft. Blended wing bodyaircraft is discussed in further detail in FIG. 14 .

With continued reference to FIG. 1 , aircraft 108 may include acontainer 104, which may further include a liquified gas fuel, and mayinclude at least a vent, and an insulation. As used in this disclosure,a “liquified gas fuel” is a fuel that at standard atmospheric conditionsor when utilized (e.g., combusted) is gas and is stored as a fuel.Liquified gas fuels include without limitation liquid hydrogen, propane,and liquified natural gas. As used herein, “septa” are partitionsbetween objects, such as two fuel tanks. The plurality of fuel tanks maybe divided by septa 120 such that there is a septum between each fueltank. In an embodiment, the septa 120 may extend from a lower outer moldline to an upper outer mold line of a container 104. A top and bottom ofcontainer 104 may be closed out by spherical end caps inset from theouter mold line to provide room for the outer mold line skin'ssupporting structure. This may assist Apparatus 100 in resistingpressurization and simultaneously carrying the shear stress that isotherwise carried by the ribs of the airframe of aircraft 108.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , container 104 may be filled with a fuel. Thefuel may be liquified gas fuel, such as without limitation hydrogen,propane, and/or natural gas. Hydrogen fuel may be stored as a compressedgas or in liquid form, however, liquid hydrogen may be used forairliner-scale systems. Liquified gas fuel may a higher density thangaseous fuel; even so, about four times as much liquid hydrogen fuel maybe needed compared to the volume of Jet-A fuel needed. Additionally,liquified gasfuel may also allow for reduced tank pressure and tankweight. Liquified gas fuel may be kept at extremely low, coldtemperatures, for example below its critical point of 33 Kelvin. Gasturbine engines, such as combustion engines, may operate on gaseous fueland may transition liquified gasfuel into a gas before consumption;gaseous fuel may be supplied to the engine at high pressure, buttypically no fuel pump is used. In some embodiments, the gas may squirtinto a combustion chamber due to compressor stages. Gas vapor from tankullage may be combined with the gas vapor from an output of a fuelheater. In some cases, this combined channel may then lead to engine forcombustion. When boiled, a rate of boil-off for liquified gasfuel may bedetermined as a function of heat energy applied to liquid hydrogen fuel.Boil-off for liquid hydrogen fuel can be selected, but container 104 maybe insulated with an insulation to control application of heat to tankcontents. Container 104 may also be refrigerated to remove heat fromliquified gas fuel. The degree of insulation may be selected to providea desired rate of boil-off. Insulation is further described below. Theselected rate of boil-off for liquified gas fuel may generally be lessthan the rate at which liquified gas fuel is consumed by the engines andpossibly other aircraft systems, such as without limitation an APU.Excess boil-off may be dumped overboard or outside of aircraft through avent.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , container 104 may include at least avent. As used in this disclosure, a “vent” is an opening and/or apertureconfigured to allow one or more fluids to pass. In an embodiment, atleast a vent may be configured to vent gaseous fuel from container 104.Gaseous fuel may result from boil-off of liquified gas fuel as the fuelwarms. In an embodiment, and without limitation, at least a vent may beconfigured to vent boil-off from container 104. In some cases, at leasta vent may include a check valve. As used in this disclosure, a “checkvalve” is a valve that permits flow of a fluid only in certain (e.g.,one) directions. In some cases check valve may be configured to allowflow of fluids substantially only away from container 104 whilepreventing back flow of vented fluid to container 104. At least a ventmay also include a pressure regulator. A “pressure regulator” is a typeof valve that controls the pressure of a fluid. Venting gaseous hydrogenfrom a container 104 prevents over-pressurizing or other events that maycause catastrophic damage or harm. It may also desirable, when Apparatus100 is grounded, to connect a system of lines and tanks to at least avent to collect the boiled-off fuel. In some cases, the collectedgaseous fuel can be compressed by a pump into storage tanks and thencooled to liquid temperatures for reuse as aircraft fuel.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , container 104 may include an insulation. Inthis disclosure, “insulation” is a component or layer configured toreduce heat transfer. Insulation may be used to reduce thermal transferto liquified gasfuel inside of a container 104. Heat may be transferredto container 104 by at least two means: conduction and radiation. Toreduce conduction, insulation may include a vacuum to separate aninterior volume of container 104 from an exterior with an evacuatedvessel. Another means to reduce conduction in container 104 may be aninsulating material that inhibits conduction. Insulating materialsinclude fiberglass wool, plastic or ceramic foam, aerogel, and othermaterials. Heat flow through an insulator can be inversely proportionalto its thickness. For example, an insulator that is twice as thick mayconduct heat at half the rate. Heat transfer by radiation may be reducedby reflective coatings. Reflective coatings may be located proximalsurfaces of container 104 and/or on intermediate materials withininsulation. For example, a dewar may be coated with a mirror-likematerial that reflects heat radiation; many thermos bottles are silveredfor this reason. A “dewar” is double-walled flask of metal or silveredglass with a vacuum between the walls and configured to hold a liquid.Another means to reduce radiation may be to sandwich multiple layers ofthin reflective foil within an insulative material such as foam.Additionally, a modest amount of insulation may be needed to limitboil-off to a rate below that needed to provide fuel vapor to theengines in cruise. On the ground, a system to capture boil-off liquifiedgasfuel may be provided. Another characteristic requirements forinsulation include surface area of a container 104. A very large tankmay provide a large volume of liquid hydrogen fuel per unit surfacearea. Boil-off rate may be determined by heat transferred into container104. Heat transferred into the container 104 may be a function of tanksurface area and/or insulation effectiveness. For example, heattransferred into container 104 may be proportional to tank surface areaand/or inversely proportional to insulation effectiveness. For a giveninsulation and storage volume, container 104 having a larger surfacearea may result in more boil-off. Or, for a given boil-off rate andstorage volume, container 104 having a larger surface area will needmore insulation. As explained above, degree of insulation may beselected to provide a desired rate of boil-off. Insulation may alsoinclude a chamber located between the inner wall and the outer wallfoams, aerogels, reflective materials, and the like of container 104.Chamber may contain gas such as air, nitrogen, argon, or the like. Insome cases, gas may be actively pumped into the chamber to ensure thatthe gas within the chamber is clean and dry and thereby not conducive tocondensation, freezing or contamination.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , container 104 may be comprised of amulti-lobe tank configuration. In a multi-lobe tank configuration, eachcontainer 104 does not form a completely circular shape, such that thesurface of container 104 may deform to achieve pure tension. Multi-lobetank configuration may be beneficial as it provides more tank volumecompared to a singular spherical tank. Multi-lobe tank configuration maybe derived by adding tanks in the junctions between tanks. Junctions arediscussed in further detail in FIG. 13 . Container 104 or Fuel tanks, asdiscussed in more detail below, may provide structural support to theaircraft by acting as load bearing columns between the floor and ceilingof the aircraft 108. In an embodiment, fuel tanks may be mounted withinthe airframe. As used herein, an “airframe” provides structure to anaircraft. Airframe may be a part of the structural components of theaircraft 108. The plurality of fuel tanks may span across the full widthof the aircraft 108. Because the ceiling of the aircraft is downwardsloping, each container 104 of the plurality of fuel tanks may vary indiameter and length. Fuel tanks may be stored vertically orhorizontally. In an embodiment and as described above, container 104 maybe a vertically oriented multi-lobe tank wherein its pressurized wallsand its septa may extend from a lower outer mold line to an upper outermold line of a container 104. A top and bottom of container 104 may beclosed out by spherical end caps inset from the outer mold line toprovide room for the outer mold line skin's supporting structure. Fueltanks may be stored in rows aft of the cabin. In an embodiment, theremay be two rows of fuel tanks. In doubling the rows, each container 104had a smaller tank wall radius, therefore each fuel tank wall is thinnerand lighter.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , container 104 may be configured to betransported using a translocation device 112. As used in the currentdisclosure, a “translocation device” is a device configured to carrycontainer 104. A translocation device 112 may include a platformmechanically attached to a plurality of wheels. Container 104 may beremovably attached to the platform of translocation device 112.Additionally, translocation device 112 and/or the plurality of wheelsmay be configured to be removably attached to an orientation guidancetrack 116. In embodiments, a translocation device 112 may include a cartor basket attached to a platform.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , translocation device 112 may beremovably attached to an orientation guidance track 116. As used in thecurrent disclosure, “orientation guidance track” is a track or conveyorsystem on which a translocation device 112 travels. In some embodiments,orientation guidance track 116 is an apparatus for transportingtranslocation device 112 from a first position 120 to a second position124. In embodiments, orientation guidance track 116 may also transport atranslocation device 112 from a second position 124 to a first position120. An orientation guidance track 116 may include a conveyor system, asystem of tracks guided by rollers, railroad style tracks, and the like.Orientation guidance track 116 may be configured be stowed or removedduring flight of aircraft 108. In some embodiments, Orientation guidancetrack 116 may be configured to transport an object in a straight path.In other embodiments, Orientation guidance track 116 may be configuredto transport an object along a curved path. In some embodiments,Orientation guidance track 116 may be configured to transport an objectalong a nonsymmetrical path. In some embodiments, Orientation guidancetrack 116 may be configured to transport an object along a symmetricalpath. Orientation guidance track 116 may be configured to be incommunication with other components of aircraft 108. An orientationguidance track 116 may be configured to be in a circular formation,serpentine formation, rectangular formation, L-shaped formation,inverted L-shaped formation, and the like. In other embodiments, anorientation guidance track 116 may be oriented longitudinally within theaircraft. When orientation guidance track 116 is oriented longitudinallyit may run parallel with the fuselage of the aircraft. When orientationguidance track 116 is oriented longitudinally it may run parallel to thelongitudinal axis of the fuselage of the aircraft.

Still referring to FIG. 1 , orientation guidance track 116 may include aconveyor system. Conveyor system may be configured to transport one ormore objects from one location to another location. In some embodiments,conveyor system may be configured to transport one or more translocationdevice 112 to one or more locations. Conveyor system may include, but isnot limited to, a roller bed conveyor, belt conveyor, curved belconveyor, incline conveyor, decline conveyor, specialty conveyor beltand the like. In some embodiments, the conveyor may include, but is notlimited to, a pneumatic, vibrating, flexible, spiral, or verticalconveyor. In some embodiments, conveyor system may be configured totransport polymer sheets 104 from a first location to a second location.In some embodiments, conveyor system may be configured to transporttranslocation device 112 to a plurality of locations.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , an orientation guidance track 116 may beconfigured to restrain the lateral or vertical movement of bothtranslocation device 112 and container 104. A locking mechanism may beused to restrain the movement of both translocation device 112 andcontainer 104. As used in the current disclosure, a “locking mechanism”is a mechanism that can lock an object onto a track. Locking mechanismmay removably attach translocation device 112 to an orientation guidancetrack 116. Locking mechanism may have an engaged configuration and adisengaged configuration. In the engaged configuration, lockingmechanism may lock translocation device 112 to orientation guidancetrack 116 such that it cannot be removed. In the disengagedconfiguration, locking mechanism may not prevent translocation device112 from being removed from orientation guidance track. A lockingmechanism may include mating a portion of the translocation device 112to an orientation guidance track 116 using a male/female connection. Inother embodiments, an orientation guidance track 116 may use a pluralityof straps. Straps may be constructed of any flexible material and/or setof materials, including without limitation membranes or sheets ofpolymer material, natural materials such as leather, and/or natural orartificial textiles. Strap may be effectively fire-resistant, whereinthe strap is effectively melt-resistant, have high tensile strength,and/or have high electrical resistivity, as defined above. Strap may beconstructed using elastic and/or inelastic materials, which may becombined in various ways; for instance and without limitation, strap maybe constructed loosely woven mesh or webbing of effectively inelasticfiber such as meta-aramid fibers, aramid fibers, KEVLAR, NOMEX, or thelike that may permit stretching within a certain range owing toslackness of fibers when embedded elastic strands are elasticallyneutral; thus, elasticity of strap may be equivalent to elasticcomponent within such a range.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , container 104 may be configured to belocated in a first position 120. As used in the current disclosure“first position” is when container 104 is located aft of the cabin inthe main body. As used herein, “cabin” is the portion of the aircraftthat holds the crew, passengers, and cargo. First position 120 may be atleast partially aft of the cabin, near the propulsors. In an embodiment,because of the low density of liquid hydrogen fuel, storing container104 in first position 120 may not substantially affect the longitudinalcenter of gravity of the aircraft 108 when it is in first position 120.First position 120 may include a position located inside of aircraft108. Container 104 may be configured to be. Container 104 may beconfigured to be located in a second position 124. As used in thecurrent disclosure, “second position” is when container 104 is locatedto the exterior to the body of the aircraft.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , orientation guidance track 116 may beconfigured to create a path between a first position 120 and a secondposition 124. For example, orientation guidance track 116 may comprise apair of tracks that run from first position 120 to second position 124,or vice versa. For example, orientation guidance track may comprise asingle track that runs from first position 120 to second position 124.In some embodiments, orientation guidance track may comprise a conveyorbelt that runs from first position 120 to second position 124. Inembodiments, orientation guidance track 116 may be configured to beginaft of the main body of the aircraft. In some embodiments, orientationguidance track 116 may linkup with or combine with an exteriororientation guidance track that is outside of the aircraft. Orientationguidance track 116 may be aligned with the location of container 104 insuch manner wherein the container is easily transferred from a firstposition 120 inside of the aircraft on to the orientation guidance track116. For example, container 104 may rest on orientation guidance track.As another example, orientation track may be located directly adjacentto container 104. Large portions of the orientation guidance track 116may be configured to be on the exterior of the aircraft. Once acontainer 104 is positioned on an orientation guidance track 116 may betransported to the second position 124. The second position 124 may belocated exterior of the aircraft to either side of the aircraft. Theorientation guidance track 116 may use an L-shaped track or conveyer toreach the second position 124. Orientation guidance track 116 mayinclude curves, bends, turns, and the like to reach second position. Inembodiments, a second position 124 may be an aircraft fueling station.An orientation guidance track 116 may be used to transport container 104into a position to make refueling more time and energy efficient. Forexample, orientation guidance track 116 may be used to transportcontainer 104 from its location inside of the aircraft to the aircraftfueling station. An orientation guidance track 116 may be configured tohave any one of a plurality of geometries/configurations, as mentionedherein above, in order to have the most efficient path to transportcontainer 104 from a first position 120 to a second position 124. Asecond position 124 may also be a container storage/maintenancefacility.

Now referring to FIG. 2 , shown is an exemplary embodiment of container104. A key component that may heavily impact shape of container 104 ispressure. Container 104 may be far lighter if pressure is resisted inpure tension as compared to bending. In pure tension, thin-walled tanksmay be used. Thin-walled tanks may be lighter than thick-walled tanks asless material is used. In some embodiments, pure tension in a tank maybe generally achieved by shapes that provide a circular cross section,including spheres, cylinders, and cones. In an embodiment, a pressurizedtank of a given volume may be made as a sphere to place the tank in puretension. Alternatively, a tank made as a cube may require tank walls tooperate in bending; thus, the cube tank would likely be vastly heavierthan a sphere tank of similar volume. Cube tanks may be heavier as thickwalls may be necessary to resist bending. Accordingly, in someembodiments, any tank geometry may provide tank walls acting in tension.Tank geometry is further described in FIGS. 3-12 .

Still referring to FIG. 2 , the walls of container 104 may operate at orbelow a limit stress. A “limit stress” is a threshold stress below whichcontainer 104 can operate at to avoid failure or damage. Stress may bedefined in hoop direction. Hoop stress occurs along the circumference ofa tank. Stress of a thin-wall cylindrical tank may be calculated in thehoop direction by multiplying the pressure (e.g., in lb./in²) by theradius (e.g., in inches), and then dividing that value by the tank wallthickness (e.g., in inches). Also as shown below, the stress of athin-wall cylindrical tank may be calculated in the longitudinaldirection by dividing the hoop stress in half. The mathematical equationfor stress may be found by first calculating a force by multiplying π bythe radius (r) squared and the pressure (P). The force is then dividedby 2*π*r*t, the area of stress with a thickness (t) to calculate thestress. Thus, the equation simplifies to half the hoop stress, orP*r/2*t. The maximum stress in a cylindrical tank is the vector sum ofthe hoop and longitudinal stresses. A thin-wall hemisphere providesequal stress everywhere of P*r/2*t. A cylindrical tank may be fabricatedwith hemispherical end caps. If the end caps have twice the radius ofthe cylinder, and the skin thickness is everywhere the same, then thestresses in all parts of the tank may be similar. In an embodiment, thefuel tanks of the plurality of fuel tanks each include domed end caps.Domed end caps may have twice the radius of the cylindrical portion ofthe fuel container 104, therefore allowing the fuel tanks to have equalstress and pressure throughout the whole tank.

Force=πr ² P

${Stress} = {\frac{\pi r^{2}P}{2\pi rt} = \frac{Pr}{2t}}$

Now referring to FIGS. 3-13 , exemplary tank geometries are illustrated.Container 104 may include a shape, or tank geometry, having a pluralityof curved surfaces. All tank geometries may exist in pure tension, andcontainer 104 may have any of the tank geometries described herein.

Now referring to just FIG. 3 , an isometric view of an exemplaryembodiment of a conical tank 300 is illustrated. Container 104 may be aconical tank. A “conical” tank is a type of tapered tank that has acone-shaped tank geometry. A “tapered tank” as used herein, is a shapeof a tank that has a larger cross section at one end of the tank thenthe other end, which has a smaller cross-section, and continuouslytransitions from the larger cross-section to the smaller cross-section.FIG. 3 shows a tapered tank wherein the left face of it is consideredthe ‘top of the tank’ and the right side is considered the ‘bottom ofthe tank’. A tapered tank may facilitate an easy outflow of liquids fromthe bottom of the tank. Conical pure-tension tank shapes may includespherical and cylindrical shapes, possibly with spherical end caps. Forexample, a tank could be conical with a spherical end cap. This mightresemble an ice cream cone. This cone may be truncated, with anotherspherical end cap on the opposing end. In an embodiment, two or moreconical tanks may be combined to form a multi-lobe geometry. Multi-lobegeometry is discussed in further detail in FIG. 11-12 .

Now referring to FIG. 4 , an isometric view of an exemplary embodimentof a curved axisymmetric tank 400 is exhibited. Container 104 may be acurved axisymmetric tank 400. Another type of tapered tank, a “curvedaxisymmetric tank” has a circular cross-section with compound curvatureon the sides or ends. Curved axisymmetric tank may be capped withhemispheres. A curved axisymmetric tank may more efficiently fill avolume with variable depth.

Now referring to FIG. 5 , an isometric view of an exemplary embodimentof a double-curved tank 500 is presented. Container 104 may be adouble-curved tank. A “double-curved tank” occurs when a tapered tank ismerged with a similar or mirror-image tank with a central septum. Thetwo tanks comprising a double-curved tank may be intersected along theirlength and a septum may be placed at the tank junction to address theresulting tension. In this disclosure, a “central septum” is a partitioncentrally located in a system separating two compartments. In somecases, central septum may not be parallel to the tank axis; for example,it may be favorable to fill a volume of constant width with a curved,variable-height ceiling. Tank axis may then be adjusted so that the tankwall on the outer side of the tank may be a selected distance from thecompartment wall.

Now referring to FIG. 6 , a double-curved tank need not have identicalcompartments; a front quarter view of an exemplary embodiment of a dualtank with different diameters 600 is illustrated. Container 104 may be adual tank with different diameters. In some compartments in thisembodiment, height on one side of the compartment may be lower than onthe other. Two or more compartments in container 104 may have differentdiameters if the ceiling height is different across the compartment. Thetwo or more tanks may be joined with one or more septa 120 that may forma curved surface as seen in top view, see cambered tanks below. In anembodiment, the shapes of the compartments may differ. In this case, thetwo merged tanks (dual tank) may have different diameters to maximizetheir height along their length.

Now referring to FIG. 7 , some tapered tanks may be sheared so thatinstead of following a straight centerline, container 104 follows acurved camber line. Shown in FIG. 7 is a quarter side view of anexemplary embodiment of a cambered, tapered tank 700. The camber lineenables the tank to fit a volume more efficiently with variable depthbut one flat side, for example a floor, while conforming more closelyto, for example, a curved ceiling. This results in a centerline that maybe curved as seen in the figure. An example may be shown in wireframeand surfaced views. This tank geometry may have a flat bottom and acurved top.

Now referring to FIGS. 8A and B, an isometric and side quarter views ofan exemplary embodiment of a dual-cambered tank is presented,respectively. Container 104 may be a dual-cambered tank 800. A“dual-cambered” tank is the same as normal cambered tank, but the camberline may be curved from the top view as well as the side view. Twocambered lines can place the outer surface of the tank at a selecteddistance from the compartment wall. The bottom and right edge ofcontainer 104 may be straight while the top view and side view of camberline may be curved. Circular cross sections of the tank may be shearedso that they remain circles in the lateral-vertical plane, for example.Alternatively, circular cross sections may be orthogonal to the camberline. From a stress standpoint, wherever the camber line curvature ofthe tank is modest, the stress difference is probably very small.

Now referring to FIG. 9 , a quarter front view of an exemplaryembodiment of a double tank is shown. The double tank 900, as explainedabove, may have a curved septum separating the two compartments ofcontainer 104. A double tank may be a multi-lobe tank.

Now referring to FIGS. 10 and 11 , a front quarter view of an exemplaryembodiment of a multi-lobe tank is illustrated in both figures. Given arectangular compartment cross-section with a longitudinally orientedtank, this cross-section may be occupied by a single circularcross-section tank. Or, as noted above, a double tank may be used toprovide greater cross-section area within the rectangular compartment.Additional spheres may be added to fill in the four corners. A“multi-lobe tank” is a tank that has more than twocompartments/curvatures attached together. In some cases, two morespheres may be added to fill in the valleys between the two main tanks.Multi-lobe tanks may have any number of compartments/curvatures, butthere may be a diminishing return on increasing complexity; eitherengineering judgment or actual engineering may be applied. In anembodiment, a multi-lobe tank may have four lobes added to fill in thecorners of a notional envelope indicated by the lines in the figure. A“lobe” as used herein, are curved sections of a multi-lobe geometry.This provides a more valuable tank volume for a given compartmentvolume. Each compartment may have a circular cross section as shown,which may be trimmed to the large, main lobes. The main lobes may thenbe trimmed to small lobes. Each junction may be then faced with aseptum. This “trimming” can be seen in FIG. 3I, wherein the multi-lobetank 1100 is trimmed with septa. On the other hand, the multi-lobe tank1000 in FIG. 3H does not have trimmings. Container 104 may or may nothave trimming.

Now referring to FIG. 12 , an isometric view of an exemplary embodimentof a tank 1200 with a plurality of tank support links is shown.Container 104 needs to be mounted into aircraft 108, usually inside thebody, in order to be a permanently attached. As explained above,container 104 may be a permanent tank, meaning it may be mounted to theaircraft for an extended period of time. Container 104 and aircraft 108may be constructed separately, and then container 104 may be mountedwithin. In an embodiment, container 104 and BWB 1404 may be independentbecause the structural load paths of Apparatus 100 may not pass throughcontainer 104, and the structural load paths of container 104 may notpass through BWB 1404, except insofar as necessary to restrain container104 within BWB 1404. Container 104 may alternatively, or additionally,provide additional structural support to the airframe. Given thisconstraint, there may be at least two methods for tank support links tomount container 104 to BWB 1404: rigid and linked mounts.

Still referring to FIG. 12 , container 104 may be mounted to BWB 1404using a rigid mount. Container 104 may be a standalone structure and maybe connected to the BWB 1404 with one or more rigid connections. A“rigid mount” or “rigid connection” is a type of link that does notallow for free movement in any direction; the link is rigid and/ornon-movable. For example, if container 104 is a longitudinally-mountedcylindrical tank, it may have a series of feet on either side, which maybe connected to the structure of container 104. These feet may also beconnected, for example, to a compartment floor structure. Additionally,the rigid mount may impose loads on BWB 1404 and container 104. In anembodiment, during a flight maneuver, Apparatus 100 may stretch,compress, or deform slightly, which may ultimately and slightly alterthe location of the example feet mounting points. Overall, this ensuessome deformation of the structure of container 104 and may imposeadditional loads on the tank that result in an unfavorably heavierdesign. Additional feet may be provided to distribute the load ofcontainer 104 more widely into BWB 1404. For example, feet may alsoconnect the tank to compartment walls, the compartment ceilingstructure, and the compartment aft pressure bulkhead. This arrangementmay not be intended to reinforce BWB 1404 by its connection to container104. Also, it may not be intended to reinforce container 104 by itsconnection to BWB 1404.

Still referring to FIG. 12 , container 104 may be mounted to BWB 1404using a linked mount. A standalone tank structure may be connected tothe airframe in such a way that airframe deformation may not result intank deformation, and vice-versa. This can be achieved through two waysto mount the tank: through its feet as described above, and through aseries of links that may have hinges or ball-joints. A “linked mount” isa way to attach an object to another object that allows movement in oneor more directions. With reference to the feet of container 104 asdescribed above, to avoid structure deformation, the feet may be mountedto the airframe with rubber fittings that provide compliance. Exemplaryfeet include mounts manufactured by LORD Corp., of Williston, Vermont. Aseries of links that may have hinges or ball-joints may also mountcontainer 104 to Apparatus 100 without structural deformation occurring.For example, and as shown in the figure, container 104 may be mounted atthree points forming a triangle: a first point may be a rigid connectionthat provides location in three axes, a second point may be a link thatprovides substantially two (vertical and lateral) location, and a thirdpoint may be a link that provides substantially one (vertical) location.These three points are seen in the figure as links 1204, 1208, and 1212,respectively. Link 1204 may support vertically, laterally, andlongitudinally. Link 1208 may support vertically and laterally becauseit may be pivoted about a lateral axis. Link 1212 may provide onlyvertical support because it has ball joints at each end. A combinationof links 1204 and 1208 may resist yaw and pitch motion. A combination oflinks 1208 and 1212 may resist roll. Altogether, motion of container 104may be restrained against motion and rotation through the use of tanksupport links. A relative change in length between container 104 and BWB1404 may be accommodated by Links 1208 and 1212 pivoting fore-aft. Arelative change in width may be accommodated by Link 1212 pivotinglaterally. A relative change in height may be unconstrained. Torsionapplied to container 104 by Links 1208 and three may be accommodated bya spherical or cylindrical connection at link 1204. One skilled in theart can provide alternate ways to achieve these objectives.

Now referring to FIG. 13 , an exemplary embodiment of a cross-sectionalview of multi-lobe tanks that may be placed aft of the main body ofaircraft 108. The multi-lobe geometry of the multi-lobe tanks 1300 mayprovide pure tension for each container 104 of the plurality ofmulti-lobe tanks Pure tension may be achieved by equal pressure in eachlobe of the geometry. Multi-lobe geometry may include convex junctionsjoining each lobe. Convex junction 1316 can be seen in FIG. 13 .

Referring to FIG. 14 , an exemplary blended wing aircraft 1400 isillustrated. Aircraft 1400 may include a blended wing body 1404. For thepurposes of this disclosure, a “blended wing body aircraft” is anaircraft having a blended wing body. As used in this disclosure, A“blended wing body” (BWB), also known as a “blended body” or a “hybridwing body” (HWB), is a fixed-wing aircraft body having no clear orabrupt demarcation between wings and a main body of the aircraft along aleading edge of the aircraft. For example, a BWB 1404 aircraft may havedistinct wing and body structures, which are smoothly blended togetherwith no clear dividing line or boundary feature between wing andfuselage. This contrasts with a flying wing, which has no distinctfuselage, and a lifting body, which has no distinct wings. A BWB 1404design may or may not be tailless. One potential advantage of a BWB 1404may be to reduce wetted area and any accompanying drag associated with aconventional wing-body junction. In some cases, a BWB 1404 may also havea wide airfoil-shaped body, allowing entire aircraft to generate liftand thereby facilitate reduction in size and/or drag of wings. In somecases, a BWB 1404 may be understood as a hybrid shape that resembles aflying wing, but also incorporates features from conventional aircraft.In some cases, this combination may offer several advantages overconventional tube-and-wing airframes. In some cases, a BWB airframe 1404may help to increase fuel economy and create larger payload (cargo orpassenger) volumes within the BWB. BWB 1404 may allow for advantageousinterior designs. For instance, cargo can be loaded and/or passengerscan board from the front or rear of the aircraft. A cargo or passengerarea may be distributed across a relatively wide (when compared toconventional tube-wing aircraft) fuselage, providing a large usablevolume. In some embodiments, passengers seated within an interior ofaircraft, real-time video at every seat can take place of window seats.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , BWB 1404 of aircraft 1400 mayinclude a nose portion. A “nose portion,” for the purposes of thisdisclosure, refers to any portion of aircraft 1400 forward of theaircraft's fuselage 1416. Nose portion may comprise a cockpit (formanned aircraft), canopy, aerodynamic fairings, windshield, and/or anystructural elements required to support mechanical loads. Nose portionmay also include pilot seats, control interfaces, gages, displays,inceptor sticks, throttle controls, collective pitch controls, and/orcommunication equipment, to name a few. Nose portion may comprise aswing nose configuration. A swing nose may be characterized by anability of the nose to move, manually or automatedly, into a differingorientation than its flight orientation to provide an opening forloading a payload into aircraft fuselage from the front of the aircraft.Nose portion may be configured to open in a plurality of orientationsand directions.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , BWB 1404 may include at least astructural component of aircraft 1400. Structural components may providephysical stability during an entirety of an aircraft's 1400 flightenvelope, while on ground, and during normal operation Structuralcomponents may comprise struts, beams, formers, stringers, longerons,interstitials, ribs, structural skin, doublers, straps, spars, orpanels, to name a few. Structural components may also comprise pillars.In some cases, for the purpose of aircraft cockpits comprisingwindows/windshields, pillars may include vertical or near verticalsupports around a window configured to provide extra stability aroundweak points in a vehicle's structure, such as an opening where a windowis installed. Where multiple pillars are disposed in an aircraft's 1400structure, they may be so named A, B, C, and so on named from nose totail. Pillars, like any structural element, may be disposed a distanceaway from each other, along an exterior of aircraft 1400 and BWB 1404.Depending on manufacturing method of BWB 1404, pillars may be integralto frame and skin, comprised entirely of internal framing, oralternatively, may be only integral to structural skin elements.Structural skin will be discussed in greater detail below.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , BWB 1404 may include a pluralityof materials, alone or in combination, in its construction. At least aBWB 1404, in an illustrative embodiment may include a welded steel tubeframe further configured to form a general shape of a nose correspondingto an arrangement of steel tubes. Steel may include any of a pluralityof alloyed metals, including but not limited to, a varying amount ofmanganese, nickel, copper, molybdenum, silicon, and/or aluminum, to namea few. Welded steel tubes may be covered in any of a plurality ofmaterials suitable for aircraft skin. Some of these may include carbonfiber, fiberglass panels, cloth-like materials, aluminum sheeting, orthe like. BWB 1404 may comprise aluminum tubing mechanically coupled invarious and orientations. Mechanical fastening of aluminum members(whether pure aluminum or alloys) may comprise temporary or permanentmechanical fasteners appreciable by one of ordinary skill in the artincluding, but not limited to, screws, nuts and bolts, anchors, clips,welding, brazing, crimping, nails, blind rivets, pull-through rivets,pins, dowels, snap-fits, clamps, and the like. BWB 1404 may additionallyor alternatively use wood or another suitably strong yet light materialfor an internal structure.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may includemonocoque or semi-monocoque construction. BWB 1404 may include carbonfiber. Carbon fiber may include carbon fiber reinforced polymer, carbonfiber reinforced plastic, or carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic(e.g., CFRP, CRP, CFRTP, carbon composite, or just carbon, depending onindustry). “Carbon fiber,” as used in this disclosure, is a compositematerial including a polymer reinforced with carbon. In general, carbonfiber composites consist of two parts, a matrix, and a reinforcement. Incarbon fiber reinforced plastic, the carbon fiber constitutes thereinforcement, which provides strength. The matrix can include a polymerresin, such as epoxy, to bind reinforcements together. Suchreinforcement achieves an increase in CFRP's strength and rigidity,measured by stress and elastic modulus, respectively. In embodiments,carbon fibers themselves can each comprise a diameter between 5-10micrometers and include a high percentage (i.e. above 85%) of carbonatoms. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theadvantages of carbon fibers include high stiffness, high tensilestrength, low weight, high chemical resistance, high temperaturetolerance, and low thermal expansion. According to embodiments, carbonfibers may be combined with other materials to form a composite, whenpermeated with plastic resin and baked, carbon fiber reinforced polymerbecomes extremely rigid. Rigidity may be considered analogous tostiffness which may be measured using Young's Modulus. Rigidity may bedefined as a force necessary to bend and/or flex a material and/orstructure to a given degree. For example, ceramics have high rigidity,which can be visualized by shattering before bending. In embodiments,carbon fibers may additionally, or alternatively, be composited withother materials like graphite to form reinforced carbon-carboncomposites, which include high heat tolerances over 2000° C. A person ofskill in the art will further appreciate that aerospace applications mayrequire high-strength, low-weight, high heat resistance materials in aplurality of roles, such as without limitation fuselages, fairings,control surfaces, and structures, among others.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , BWB 1404 may include at least afuselage. A “fuselage,” for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to amain body of an aircraft 1400, or in other words, an entirety of theaircraft 1400 except for nose, wings, empennage, nacelles, and controlsurfaces. In some cases, fuselage may contain an aircraft's payload. Atleast a fuselage may comprise structural components that physicallysupport a shape and structure of an aircraft 1400. Structural componentsmay take a plurality of forms, alone or in combination with other types.Structural components vary depending on construction type of aircraft1400 and specifically, fuselage. A fuselage 1412 may include a trussstructure. A truss structure may be used with a lightweight aircraft. Atruss structure may include welded steel tube trusses. A “truss,” asused in this disclosure, is an assembly of beams that create a rigidstructure, for example without limitation including combinations oftriangles to create three-dimensional shapes. A truss structure mayinclude wood construction in place of steel tubes, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, structural components can comprise steeltubes and/or wood beams. An aircraft skin may be layered over a bodyshape constructed by trusses. Aircraft skin may comprise a plurality ofmaterials such as plywood sheets, aluminum, fiberglass, and/or carbonfiber.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in embodiments, at least afuselage may comprise geodesic construction. Geodesic structuralelements may include stringers wound about formers (which may bealternatively called station frames) in opposing spiral directions. A“stringer,” for the purposes of this disclosure is a general structuralelement that includes a long, thin, and rigid strip of metal or woodthat is mechanically coupled to and spans the distance from, stationframe to station frame to create an internal skeleton on which tomechanically couple aircraft skin. A former (or station frame) caninclude a rigid structural element that is disposed along a length of aninterior of a fuselage orthogonal to a longitudinal (nose to tail) axisof aircraft 1400. In some cases, a former forms a general shape of atleast a fuselage. A former may include differing cross-sectional shapesat differing locations along a fuselage, as the former is a structuralcomponent that informs an overall shape of the fuselage. In embodiments,aircraft skin can be anchored to formers and strings such that an outermold line of volume encapsulated by the formers and stringers comprisesa same shape as aircraft 1400 when installed. In other words, former(s)may form a fuselage's ribs, and stringers may form interstitials betweenthe ribs. A spiral orientation of stringers about formers may provideuniform robustness at any point on an aircraft fuselage such that if aportion sustains damage, another portion may remain largely unaffected.Aircraft skin may be mechanically coupled to underlying stringers andformers and may interact with a fluid, such as air, to generate lift andperform maneuvers.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , according to some embodiments, afuselage can comprise monocoque construction. Monocoque construction caninclude a primary structure that forms a shell (or skin in an aircraft'scase) and supports physical loads. Monocoque fuselages are fuselages inwhich the aircraft skin or shell may also include a primary structure.In monocoque construction aircraft skin would support tensile andcompressive loads within itself and true monocoque aircraft can befurther characterized by an absence of internal structural elements.Aircraft skin in this construction method may be rigid and can sustainits shape with substantially no structural assistance form underlyingskeleton-like elements. Monocoque fuselage may include aircraft skinmade from plywood layered in varying grain directions, epoxy-impregnatedfiberglass, carbon fiber, or any combination thereof.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , according to some embodiments, afuselage may include a semi-monocoque construction. Semi-monocoqueconstruction, as used in this disclosure, is used interchangeably withpartially monocoque construction, discussed above. In semi-monocoqueconstruction, a fuselage may derive some structural support fromstressed aircraft skin and some structural support from underlying framestructure made of structural components. Formers or station frames canbe seen running transverse to a long axis of fuselage with circularcutouts which may be used in real-world manufacturing for weight savingsand for routing of electrical harnesses and other modern on-boardsystems. In a semi-monocoque construction, stringers may be thin, longstrips of material that run parallel to a fuselage's long axis.Stringers can be mechanically coupled to formers permanently, such aswith rivets. Aircraft skin can be mechanically coupled to stringers andformers permanently, such as by rivets as well. A person of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that there are numerous methods formechanical fastening of the aforementioned components like screws,nails, dowels, pins, anchors, adhesives like glue or epoxy, or bolts andnuts, to name a few. According to some embodiments, a subset ofsemi-monocoque construction may be unibody construction. Unibody, whichis short for “unitized body” or alternatively “unitary construction,”vehicles are characterized by a construction in which body, floor plan,and chassis form a single structure, for example an automobile. In theaircraft world, a unibody may include internal structural elements, likeformers and stringers, constructed in one piece, integral to an aircraftskin. In some cases, stringers and formers may account for the bulk ofany aircraft structure (excluding monocoque construction). Stringers andformers can be arranged in a plurality of orientations depending onaircraft operation and materials. Stringers may be arranged to carryaxial (tensile or compressive), shear, bending or torsion forcesthroughout their overall structure. Due to their coupling to aircraftskin, aerodynamic forces exerted on aircraft skin may be transferred tostringers. Location of said stringers greatly informs type of forces andloads applied to each and every stringer, all of which may be accountedfor through design processes including, material selection,cross-sectional area, and mechanical coupling methods of each member.Similar methods may be performed for former assessment and design. Ingeneral, formers may be significantly larger in cross-sectional area andthickness, depending on location, than stringers. Both stringers andformers may comprise aluminum, aluminum alloys, graphite epoxycomposite, steel alloys, titanium, or an undisclosed material alone orin combination.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some cases, a primary purposefor a substructure of a semi-monocoque structure is to stabilize a skin.Typically, aircraft structure is required to have a very light weightand as a result, in some cases, aircraft skin may be very thin. In somecases, unless supported, this thin skin structure may tend to buckleand/or cripple under compressive and/or shear loads. In some cases,underlying structure may be primarily configured to stabilize skins. Forexample, in an exemplary conventional airliner, wing structure is anairfoil-shaped box with truncated nose and aft triangle; withoutstabilizing substructure, in some cases, this box would buckle upperskin of the wing and the upper skin would also collapse into the lowerskin under bending loads. In some cases, deformations are prevented withribs that support stringers which stabilize the skin. Fuselages aresimilar with bulkheads or frames, and stringers.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some embodiments, anothercommon structural form is sandwich structure. As used in thisdisclosure, “sandwich structure” includes a skin structure having aninner and outer skin separated and stabilized by a core material. Insome cases, sandwich structure may additionally include some number ofribs or frames. In some cases, sandwich structure may include metal,polymer, and/or composite. In some cases, core material may includehoneycomb, foam plastic, and/or end-grain balsa wood. In some cases,sandwich structure can be popular on composite light airplanes, such asgliders and powered light planes. In some cases, sandwich structure maynot use stringers, and sandwich structure may allow number of ribs orframes to be reduced, for instance in comparison with a semi-monocoquestructure. In some cases, sandwich structure may be suitable forsmaller, possibly unmanned, unpressurized blended wing body aircraft.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , stressed skin, when used insemi-monocoque construction, may bear partial, yet significant, load. Inother words, an internal structure, whether it be a frame of weldedtubes, formers and stringers, or some combination, is not sufficientlystrong enough by design to bear all loads. The concept of stressed skinis applied in monocoque and semi-monocoque construction methods of atleast a fuselage and/or BWB 1404. In some cases, monocoque may beconsidered to include substantially only structural skin, and in thatsense, aircraft skin undergoes stress by applied aerodynamic fluidsimparted by fluid. Stress as used in continuum mechanics can bedescribed in pound-force per square inch (lbf/in²) or Pascals (Pa). Insemi-monocoque construction stressed skin bears part of aerodynamicloads and additionally imparts force on an underlying structure ofstringers and formers.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , a fuselage may include an interiorcavity. An interior cavity may include a volumetric space configurableto house passenger seats and/or cargo. An interior cavity may beconfigured to include receptacles for fuel tanks, batteries, fuel cells,or other energy sources as described herein. In some cases, a post maybe supporting a floor (i.e., deck), or in other words a surface on whicha passenger, operator, passenger, payload, or other object would rest ondue to gravity when within an aircraft 1400 is in its level flightorientation or sitting on ground. A post may act similarly to stringerin that it is configured to support axial loads in compression due to aload being applied parallel to its axis due to, for example, a heavyobject being placed on a floor of aircraft 1400. A beam may be disposedin or on any portion a fuselage that requires additional bracing,specifically when disposed transverse to another structural element,like a post, which would benefit from support in that direction,opposing applied force. A beam may be disposed in a plurality oflocations and orientations within a fuselage as necessitated byoperational and constructional requirements.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may include at leasta flight component 1408. A flight component 1408 may be consistent withany description of a flight component described in this disclosure, suchas without limitation propulsors, control surfaces, rotors, paddlewheels, engines, propellers, wings, winglets, or the like. For thepurposes of this disclosure, at least a “flight component” is at leastone element of an aircraft 1400 configured to manipulate a fluid mediumsuch as air to propel, control, or maneuver an aircraft. In nonlimitingexamples, at least a flight component may include a rotor mechanicallyconnected to a rotor shaft of an electric motor further mechanicallyaffixed to at least a portion of aircraft 1400. In some embodiments, atleast a flight component 1408 may include a propulsor, for example arotor attached to an electric motor configured to produce shaft torqueand in turn, create thrust. As used in this disclosure, an “electricmotor” is an electrical machine that converts electric energy intomechanical work.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , for the purposes of thisdisclosure, “torque”, is a twisting force that tends to cause rotation.Torque may be considered an effort and a rotational analogue to linearforce. A magnitude of torque of a rigid body may depend on threequantities: a force applied, a lever arm vector connecting a point aboutwhich the torque is being measured to a point of force application, andan angle between the force and the lever arm vector. A force appliedperpendicularly to a lever multiplied by its distance from the lever'sfulcrum (the length of the lever arm) is its torque. A force of threenewtons applied two meters from the fulcrum, for example, exerts thesame torque as a force of one newton applied six meters from thefulcrum. In some cases, direction of a torque can be determined by usinga right-hand grip rule which states: if fingers of right hand are curledfrom a direction of lever arm to direction of force, then thumb pointsin a direction of the torque. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldappreciate that torque may be represented as a vector, consistent withthis disclosure, and therefore may include a magnitude and a direction.“Torque” and “moment” are used interchangeably within this disclosure.Any torque command or signal within this disclosure may include at leastthe steady state torque to achieve the torque output to at least apropulsor.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , at least a flight component may beone or more devices configured to affect aircraft's 1400 attitude.“Attitude,” for the purposes of this disclosure, is the relativeorientation of a body, in this case aircraft 1400, as compared toearth's surface or any other reference point and/or coordinate system.In some cases, attitude may be displayed to pilots, personnel, remoteusers, or one or more computing devices in an attitude indicator, suchas without limitation a visual representation of a horizon and itsrelative orientation to aircraft 1400. A plurality of attitude datumsmay indicate one or more measurements relative to an aircraft's pitch,roll, yaw, or throttle compared to a relative starting point. One ormore sensors may measure or detect an aircraft's 1400 attitude andestablish one or more attitude datums. An “attitude datum,” for thepurposes of this disclosure, refers to at least an element of dataidentifying an attitude of an aircraft 1400.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some cases, aircraft 1400 mayinclude one or more of an angle of attack sensor and a yaw sensor. Insome embodiments, one or more of an angle of attack sensor and a yawsensor may include a vane (e.g., wind vane). In some cases, vane mayinclude a protrusion on a pivot with an aft tail. The protrusion may beconfigured to rotate about pivot to maintain zero tail angle of attack.In some cases, pivot may turn an electronic device that reports one ormore of angle of attack and/or yaw, depending on, for example,orientation of the pivot and tail. Alternatively or additionally, insome cases, one or more of angle of attack sensor and/or yaw sensor mayinclude a plurality of pressure ports located in selected locations,with pressure sensors located at each pressure port. In some cases,differential pressure between pressure ports can be used to estimateangle of attack and/or yaw.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some cases, aircraft 1400 mayinclude at least a pilot control. As used in this disclosure, a “pilotcontrol,” is an interface device that allows an operator, human ormachine, to control a flight component of an aircraft. Pilot control maybe communicatively connected to any other component presented inaircraft 1400, the communicative connection may include redundantconnections configured to safeguard against single-point failure. Insome cases, a plurality of attitude datums may indicate a pilot'sinstruction to change heading and/or trim of an aircraft 1400. Pilotinput may indicate a pilot's instruction to change an aircraft's pitch,roll, yaw, throttle, and/or any combination thereof. Aircraft trajectorymay be manipulated by one or more control surfaces and propulsorsworking alone or in tandem consistent with the entirety of thisdisclosure. “Pitch,” for the purposes of this disclosure refers to anaircraft's angle of attack, which is a difference between a planeincluding at least a portion of both wings of the aircraft running noseto tail and a horizontal flight trajectory. For example, an aircraft maypitch “up” when its nose is angled upward compared to horizontal flight,as in a climb maneuver. In another example, an aircraft may pitch“down,” when its nose is angled downward compared to horizontal flight,like in a dive maneuver. In some cases, angle of attack may not be usedas an input, for instance pilot input, to any system disclosed herein;in such circumstances proxies may be used such as pilot controls, remotecontrols, or sensor levels, such as true airspeed sensors, pitot tubes,pneumatic/hydraulic sensors, and the like. “Roll” for the purposes ofthis disclosure, refers to an aircraft's position about its longitudinalaxis, which is to say that when an aircraft rotates about its axis fromits tail to its nose, and one side rolls upward, as in a bankingmaneuver. “Yaw,” for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to anaircraft's turn angle, when an aircraft rotates about an imaginaryvertical axis intersecting center of earth and aircraft 1400.“Throttle,” for the purposes of this disclosure, refers to an aircraftoutputting an amount of thrust from a propulsor. In context of a pilotinput, throttle may refer to a pilot's input to increase or decreasethrust produced by at least a propulsor. Flight components 1408 mayreceive and/or transmit signals, for example an aircraft command signal.Aircraft command signal may include any signal described in thisdisclosure, such as without limitation electrical signal, opticalsignal, pneumatic signal, hydraulic signal, and/or mechanical signal. Insome cases, an aircraft command may be a function of a signal from apilot control. In some cases, an aircraft command may include or bedetermined as a function of a pilot command. For example, aircraftcommands may be determined as a function of a mechanical movement of athrottle. Signals may include analog signals, digital signals, periodicor aperiodic signal, step signals, unit impulse signal, unit rampsignal, unit parabolic signal, signum function, exponential signal,rectangular signal, triangular signal, sinusoidal signal, sinc function,or pulse width modulated signal. Pilot control may include circuitry,computing devices, electronic components, or a combination thereof thattranslates pilot input into a signal configured to be transmitted toanother electronic component. In some cases, a plurality of attitudecommands may be determined as a function of an input to a pilot control.A plurality of attitude commands may include a total attitude commanddatum, such as a combination of attitude adjustments represented by oneor a certain number of combinatorial datums. A plurality of attitudecommands may include individual attitude datums representing total orrelative change in attitude measurements relative to pitch, roll, yaw,and throttle.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some embodiments, pilot controlmay include at least a sensor. As used in this disclosure, a “sensor” isa device that detects a phenomenon. In some cases, a sensor may detect aphenomenon and transmit a signal that is representative of thephenomenon. At least a sensor may include, torque sensor, gyroscope,accelerometer, magnetometer, inertial measurement unit (IMU), pressuresensor, force sensor, proximity sensor, displacement sensor, vibrationsensor, among others. At least a sensor may include a sensor suite whichmay include a plurality of sensors that may detect similar or uniquephenomena. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, sensor suite mayinclude a plurality of accelerometers, a mixture of accelerometers andgyroscopes, or a mixture of an accelerometer, gyroscope, and torquesensor. For the purposes of the disclosure, a “torque datum” is one ormore elements of data representing one or more parameters detailingpower output by one or more propulsors, flight components, or otherelements of an electric aircraft. A torque datum may indicate the torqueoutput of at least a flight component 1408. At least a flight component1408 may include any propulsor as described herein. In embodiment, atleast a flight component 1408 may include an electric motor, apropeller, a jet engine, a paddle wheel, a rotor, turbine, or any othermechanism configured to manipulate a fluid medium to propel an aircraftas described herein. an embodiment of at least a sensor may include orbe included in, a sensor suite. The herein disclosed system and methodmay comprise a plurality of sensors in the form of individual sensors ora sensor suite working in tandem or individually. A sensor suite mayinclude a plurality of independent sensors, as described herein, whereany number of the described sensors may be used to detect any number ofphysical or electrical quantities associated with an aircraft powersystem or an electrical energy storage system. Independent sensors mayinclude separate sensors measuring physical or electrical quantitiesthat may be powered by and/or in communication with circuitsindependently, where each may signal sensor output to a control circuitsuch as a user graphical interface. In a non-limiting example, there maybe four independent sensors housed in and/or on battery pack measuringtemperature, electrical characteristic such as voltage, amperage,resistance, or impedance, or any other parameters and/or quantities asdescribed in this disclosure. In an embodiment, use of a plurality ofindependent sensors may result in redundancy configured to employ morethan one sensor that measures the same phenomenon, those sensors beingof the same type, a combination of, or another type of sensor notdisclosed, so that in the event one sensor fails, the ability of abattery management system and/or user to detect phenomenon is maintainedand in a non-limiting example, a user alter aircraft usage pursuant tosensor readings.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , at least a sensor may include amoisture sensor. “Moisture,” as used in this disclosure, is the presenceof water, this may include vaporized water in air, condensation on thesurfaces of objects, or concentrations of liquid water. Moisture mayinclude humidity. “Humidity,” as used in this disclosure, is theproperty of a gaseous medium (almost always air) to hold water in theform of vapor. An amount of water vapor contained within a parcel of aircan vary significantly. Water vapor is generally invisible to the humaneye and may be damaging to electrical components. There are threeprimary measurements of humidity, absolute, relative, specific humidity.“Absolute humidity,” for the purposes of this disclosure, describes thewater content of air and is expressed in either grams per cubic metersor grams per kilogram. “Relative humidity,” for the purposes of thisdisclosure, is expressed as a percentage, indicating a present stat ofabsolute humidity relative to a maximum humidity given the sametemperature. “Specific humidity,” for the purposes of this disclosure,is the ratio of water vapor mass to total moist air parcel mass, whereparcel is a given portion of a gaseous medium. A moisture sensor may bepsychrometer. A moisture sensor may be a hygrometer. A moisture sensormay be configured to act as or include a humidistat. A “humidistat,” forthe purposes of this disclosure, is a humidity-triggered switch, oftenused to control another electronic device. A moisture sensor may usecapacitance to measure relative humidity and include in itself, or as anexternal component, include a device to convert relative humiditymeasurements to absolute humidity measurements. “Capacitance,” for thepurposes of this disclosure, is the ability of a system to store anelectric charge, in this case the system is a parcel of air which may benear, adjacent to, or above a battery cell.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , at least a sensor may includeelectrical sensors. An electrical sensor may be configured to measurevoltage across a component, electrical current through a component, andresistance of a component. Electrical sensors may include separatesensors to measure each of the previously disclosed electricalcharacteristics such as voltmeter, ammeter, and ohmmeter, respectively.One or more sensors may be communicatively coupled to at least a pilotcontrol, the manipulation of which, may constitute at least an aircraftcommand. Signals may include electrical, electromagnetic, visual, audio,radio waves, or another undisclosed signal type alone or in combination.At least a sensor communicatively connected to at least a pilot controlmay include a sensor disposed on, near, around or within at least pilotcontrol. At least a sensor may include a motion sensor. “Motion sensor,”for the purposes of this disclosure refers to a device or componentconfigured to detect physical movement of an object or grouping ofobjects. One of ordinary skill in the art would appreciate, afterreviewing the entirety of this disclosure, that motion may include aplurality of types including but not limited to: spinning, rotating,oscillating, gyrating, jumping, sliding, reciprocating, or the like. Atleast a sensor may include, torque sensor, gyroscope, accelerometer,torque sensor, magnetometer, inertial measurement unit (IMU), pressuresensor, force sensor, proximity sensor, displacement sensor, vibrationsensor, among others. At least a sensor may include a sensor suite whichmay include a plurality of sensors that may detect similar or uniquephenomena. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, sensor suite mayinclude a plurality of accelerometers, a mixture of accelerometers andgyroscopes, or a mixture of an accelerometer, gyroscope, and torquesensor. The herein disclosed system and method may comprise a pluralityof sensors in the form of individual sensors or a sensor suite workingin tandem or individually. A sensor suite may include a plurality ofindependent sensors, as described herein, where any number of thedescribed sensors may be used to detect any number of physical orelectrical quantities associated with an aircraft power system or anelectrical energy storage system. Independent sensors may includeseparate sensors measuring physical or electrical quantities that may bepowered by and/or in communication with circuits independently, whereeach may signal sensor output to a control circuit such as a usergraphical interface. In an embodiment, use of a plurality of independentsensors may result in redundancy configured to employ more than onesensor that measures the same phenomenon, those sensors being of thesame type, a combination of, or another type of sensor not disclosed, sothat in the event one sensor fails, the ability to detect phenomenon ismaintained and in a non-limiting example, a user alter aircraft usagepursuant to sensor readings.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , at least a flight component 1408may include wings, empennages, nacelles, control surfaces, fuselages,and landing gear, among others, to name a few. In embodiments, anempennage may be disposed at the aftmost point of an aircraft body 1404.Empennage may comprise a tail of aircraft 1400, further comprisingrudders, vertical stabilizers, horizontal stabilizers, stabilators,elevators, trim tabs, among others. At least a portion of empennage maybe manipulated directly or indirectly by pilot commands to impartcontrol forces on a fluid in which the aircraft 1400 is flying.Manipulation of these empennage control surfaces may, in part, change anaircraft's heading in pitch, roll, and yaw. Wings comprise may includestructures which include airfoils configured to create a pressuredifferential resulting in lift. Wings are generally disposed on a leftand right side of aircraft 1400 symmetrically, at a point between noseand empennage. Wings may comprise a plurality of geometries in planformview, swept swing, tapered, variable wing, triangular, oblong,elliptical, square, among others. Wings may be blended into the body ofthe aircraft such as in a BWB 1404 aircraft 1400 where no strongdelineation of body and wing exists. A wing's cross section geometry maycomprise an airfoil. An “airfoil” as used in this disclosure, is a shapespecifically designed such that a fluid flowing on opposing sides of itexert differing levels of pressure against the airfoil. In embodiments,a bottom surface of an aircraft can be configured to generate a greaterpressure than does a top surface, resulting in lift. A wing may comprisediffering and/or similar cross-sectional geometries over its cordlength, e.g. length from wing tip to where wing meets the aircraft'sbody. One or more wings may be symmetrical about an aircraft'slongitudinal plane, which comprises a longitudinal or roll axis reachingdown a center of the aircraft through the nose and empennage, and theaircraft's yaw axis. In some cases, wings may comprise controls surfacesconfigured to be commanded by a pilot and/or autopilot to change awing's geometry and therefore its interaction with a fluid medium.Flight component 1408 may include control surfaces. Control surfaces mayinclude without limitation flaps, ailerons, tabs, spoilers, and slats,among others. In some cases, control surfaces may be disposed on wingsin a plurality of locations and arrangements. In some cases, controlsurfaces may be disposed at leading and/or trailing edges of wings, andmay be configured to deflect up, down, forward, aft, or any combinationthereof.

In some cases, flight component 1408 may include a winglet. For thepurposes of this disclosure, a “winglet” is a flight componentconfigured to manipulate a fluid medium and is mechanically attached toa wing or aircraft and may alternatively called a “wingtip device.”Wingtip devices may be used to improve efficiency of fixed-wing aircraftby reducing drag. Although there are several types of wingtip deviceswhich function in different manners, their intended effect may be toreduce an aircraft's drag by partial recovery of tip vortex energy.Wingtip devices can also improve aircraft handling characteristics andenhance safety for aircraft 1400. Such devices increase an effectiveaspect ratio of a wing without greatly increasing wingspan. Extendingwingspan may lower lift-induced drag but would increase parasitic dragand would require boosting the strength and weight of the wing. As aresult according to some aeronautic design equations, a maximum wingspanmade be determined above which no net benefit exits from furtherincreased span. There may also be operational considerations that limitthe allowable wingspan (e.g., available width at airport gates).

Wingtip devices, in some cases, may increase lift generated at wingtip(by smoothing airflow across an upper wing near the wingtip) and reducelift-induced drag caused by wingtip vortices, thereby improving alift-to-drag ratio. This increases fuel efficiency in powered aircraftand increases cross-country speed in gliders, in both cases increasingrange. U.S. Air Force studies indicate that a given improvement in fuelefficiency correlates directly and causally with increase in anaircraft's lift-to-drag ratio. The term “winglet” has previously beenused to describe an additional lifting surface on an aircraft, like ashort section between wheels on fixed undercarriage. An upward angle(i.e., cant) of a winglet, its inward or outward angle (i.e., toe), aswell as its size and shape are selectable design parameters which may bechosen for correct performance in a given application. A wingtip vortex,which rotates around from below a wing, strikes a cambered surface of awinglet, generating a force that angles inward and slightly forward. Awinglet's relation to a wingtip vortex may be considered analogous tosailboat sails when sailing too windward (i.e., close-hauled). Similarto the close-hauled sailboat's sails, winglets may convert some of whatwould otherwise-be wasted energy in a wingtip vortex to an apparentthrust. This small contribution can be worthwhile over the aircraft'slifetime. Another potential benefit of winglets is that they may reducean intensity of wake vortices. Wake vortices may trail behind anaircraft 1400 and pose a hazard to other aircraft. Minimum spacingrequirements between aircraft at airports are largely dictated byhazards, like those from wake vortices. Aircraft are classified byweight (e.g., “Light,” “Heavy,” and the like) often base upon vortexstrength, which grows with an aircraft's lift coefficient. Thus,associated turbulence is greatest at low speed and high weight, whichmay be produced at high angle of attack near airports. Winglets andwingtip fences may also increase efficiency by reducing vortexinterference with laminar airflow near wingtips, by moving a confluenceof low-pressure air (over wing) and high-pressure air (under wing) awayfrom a surface of the wing. Wingtip vortices create turbulence, whichmay originate at a leading edge of a wingtip and propagate backwards andinboard. This turbulence may delaminate airflow over a small triangularsection of an outboard wing, thereby frustrating lift in that area. Afence/winglet drives an area where a vortex forms upward away from awing surface, as the resulting vortex is repositioned to a top tip ofthe winglet.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may include anenergy source. Energy source may include any device providing energy toat least a flight component 1408, for example at least a propulsors.Energy source may include, without limitation, a generator, aphotovoltaic device, a fuel cell such as a hydrogen fuel cell, directmethanol fuel cell, and/or solid oxide fuel cell, or an electric energystorage device; electric energy storage device may include withoutlimitation a battery, a capacitor, and/or inductor. The energy sourceand/or energy storage device may include at least a battery, batterycell, and/or a plurality of battery cells connected in series, inparallel, or in a combination of series and parallel connections such asseries connections into modules that are connected in parallel withother like modules. Battery and/or battery cell may include, withoutlimitation, Li ion batteries which may include NCA, NMC, Lithium ironphosphate (LiFePO4) and Lithium Manganese Oxide (LMO) batteries, whichmay be mixed with another cathode chemistry to provide more specificpower if the application requires Li metal batteries, which have alithium metal anode that provides high power on demand, Li ion batteriesthat have a silicon or titanite anode. In embodiments, the energy sourcemay be used to provide electrical power to an electric or hybridpropulsor during moments requiring high rates of power output, includingwithout limitation takeoff, landing, thermal de-icing, and situationsrequiring greater power output for reasons of stability, such as highturbulence situations. In some cases, battery may include, withoutlimitation a battery using nickel based chemistries such as nickelcadmium or nickel metal hydride, a battery using lithium ion batterychemistries such as a nickel cobalt aluminum (NCA), nickel manganesecobalt (NMC), lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4), lithium cobalt oxide(LCO), and/or lithium manganese oxide (LMO), a battery using lithiumpolymer technology, lead-based batteries such as without limitation leadacid batteries, metal-air batteries, or any other suitable battery. Aperson of ordinary skill in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of thisdisclosure, will be aware of various devices of components that may beused as an energy source.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in further nonlimitingembodiments, an energy source may include a fuel store. As used in thisdisclosure, a “fuel store” is an aircraft component configured to storea fuel. In some cases, a fuel store may include a fuel tank. Fuel mayinclude a liquid fuel, a gaseous fluid, a solid fuel, and fluid fuel, aplasma fuel, and the like. As used in this disclosure, a “fuel” mayinclude any substance that stores energy. Exemplary non-limiting fuelsinclude hydrocarbon fuels, petroleum-based fuels, synthetic fuels,chemical fuels, Jet fuels (e.g., Jet-A fuel, Jet-B fuel, and the like),kerosene-based fuel, gasoline-based fuel, an electrochemical-based fuel(e.g., lithium-ion battery), a hydrogen-based fuel, natural gas-basedfuel, and the like. As described in greater detail below fuel store maybe located substantially within blended wing body 1404 of aircraft 1400,for example without limitation within a wing portion 1412 of blendedwing body 1408. Aviation fuels may include petroleum-based fuels, orpetroleum and synthetic fuel blends, used to power aircraft 1400. Insome cases, aviation fuels may have more stringent requirements thanfuels used for ground use, such as heating and road transport. Aviationfuels may contain additives to enhance or maintain properties importantto fuel performance or handling. Fuel may be kerosene-based (JP-8 andJet A-1), for example for gas turbine-powered aircraft. Piston-engineaircraft may use gasoline-based fuels and/or kerosene-based fuels (forexample for Diesel engines). In some cases, specific energy may beconsidered an important criterion in selecting fuel for an aircraft1400. Liquid fuel may include Jet-A. Presently Jet-A powers moderncommercial airliners and is a mix of extremely refined kerosene andburns at temperatures at or above 49° C. (120° F.). Kerosene-based fuelhas a much higher flash point than gasoline-based fuel, meaning that itrequires significantly higher temperature to ignite.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , modular aircraft 1400 may includean energy source which may include a fuel cell. As used in thisdisclosure, a “fuel cell” is an electrochemical device that combines afuel and an oxidizing agent to create electricity. In some cases, fuelcells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous sourceof fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction,whereas in a battery the chemical energy comes from metals and theirions or oxides that are commonly already present in the battery, exceptin flow batteries. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously foras long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in some embodiments, fuel cellsmay consist of different types. Commonly a fuel cell consists of ananode, a cathode, and an electrolyte that allows ions, often positivelycharged hydrogen ions (protons), to move between two sides of the fuelcell. At anode, a catalyst causes fuel to undergo oxidation reactionsthat generate ions (often positively charged hydrogen ions) andelectrons. Ions move from anode to cathode through electrolyte.Concurrently, electrons may flow from anode to cathode through anexternal circuit, producing direct current electricity. At cathode,another catalyst causes ions, electrons, and oxygen to react, formingwater and possibly other products. Fuel cells may be classified by typeof electrolyte used and by difference in startup time ranging from 14second for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEM fuel cells, orPEMFC) to 10 minutes for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In some cases,energy source may include a related technology, such as flow batteries.Within a flow battery fuel can be regenerated by recharging. Individualfuel cells produce relatively small electrical potentials, about 0.7volts. Therefore, in some cases, fuel cells may be “stacked”, or placedin series, to create sufficient voltage to meet an application'srequirements. In addition to electricity, fuel cells may produce water,heat and, depending on the fuel source, very small amounts of nitrogendioxide and other emissions. Energy efficiency of a fuel cell isgenerally between 40 and 90%.

Fuel cell may include an electrolyte. In some cases, electrolyte maydefine a type of fuel cell. Electrolyte may include any number ofsubstances like potassium hydroxide, salt carbonates, and phosphoricacid. Commonly a fuel cell is fueled by hydrogen. Fuel cell may featurean anode catalyst, like fine platinum powder, which breaks down fuelinto electrons and ions. Fuel cell may feature a cathode catalyst, oftennickel, which converts ions into waste chemicals, with water being themost common type of waste. A fuel cell may include gas diffusion layersthat are designed to resist oxidization.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may include anenergy source which may include a cell such as a battery cell, or aplurality of battery cells making a battery module. An energy source maybe a plurality of energy sources. The module may include batteriesconnected in parallel or in series or a plurality of modules connectedeither in series or in parallel designed to deliver both the power andenergy requirements of the application. Connecting batteries in seriesmay increase the voltage of an energy source which may provide morepower on demand. High voltage batteries may require cell matching whenhigh peak load is needed. As more cells are connected in strings, theremay exist the possibility of one cell failing which may increaseresistance in the module and reduce the overall power output as thevoltage of the module may decrease as a result of that failing cell.Connecting batteries in parallel may increase total current capacity bydecreasing total resistance, and it also may increase overall amp-hourcapacity. The overall energy and power outputs of an energy source maybe based on the individual battery cell performance, or an extrapolationbased on the measurement of at least an electrical parameter. In anembodiment where an energy source includes a plurality of battery cells,the overall power output capacity may be dependent on the electricalparameters of each individual cell. If one cell experiences highself-discharge during demand, power drawn from an energy source may bedecreased to avoid damage to the weakest cell. An energy source mayfurther include, without limitation, wiring, conduit, housing, coolingsystem and battery management system. Persons skilled in the art will beaware, after reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, of manydifferent components of an energy source.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may include multipleflight component 1408 sub-systems, each of which may have a separateenergy source. For instance, and without limitation, one or more flightcomponents 1408 may have a dedicated energy source. Alternatively, oradditionally, a plurality of energy sources may each provide power totwo or more flight components 1408, such as, without limitation, a“fore” energy source providing power to flight components located towarda front of an aircraft 1400, while an “aft” energy source provides powerto flight components located toward a rear of the aircraft 1400. As afurther non-limiting example, a flight component of group of flightcomponents may be powered by a plurality of energy sources. For example,and without limitation, two or more energy sources may power one or moreflight components; two energy sources may include, without limitation,at least a first energy source having high specific energy density andat least a second energy source having high specific power density,which may be selectively deployed as required for higher-power andlower-power needs. Alternatively, or additionally, a plurality of energysources may be placed in parallel to provide power to the same singlepropulsor or plurality of propulsors 1408. Alternatively, oradditionally, two or more separate propulsion subsystems may be joinedusing intertie switches (not shown) causing the two or more separatepropulsion subsystems to be treatable as a single propulsion subsystemor system, for which potential under load of combined energy sources maybe used as the electric potential. Persons skilled in the art, uponreviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of variouscombinations of energy sources that may each provide power to single ormultiple propulsors in various configurations.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , aircraft 1400 may include a flightcomponent 1408 that includes at least a nacelle 1408. For the purposesof this disclosure, a “nacelle” is a streamlined body housing, which issized according to that which is houses, such as without limitation anengine, a fuel store, or a flight component. When attached by a pylonentirely outside an airframe 1404 a nacelle may sometimes be referred toas a pod, in which case an engine within the nacelle may be referred toas a podded engine. In some cases an aircraft cockpit may also be housedin a nacelle, rather than in a conventional fuselage. At least a nacellemay substantially encapsulate a propulsor, which may include a motor oran engine. At least a nacelle may be mechanically connected to at leasta portion of aircraft 1400 partially or wholly enveloped by an outermold line of the aircraft 1400. At least a nacelle may be designed to bestreamlined. At least a nacelle may be asymmetrical about a planecomprising the longitudinal axis of the engine and the yaw axis ofmodular aircraft 1400.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , a flight component may include apropulsor. A “propulsor,” as used herein, is a component or device usedto propel a craft by exerting force on a fluid medium, which may includea gaseous medium such as air or a liquid medium such as water. For thepurposes of this disclosure, “substantially encapsulate” is the state ofa first body (e.g., housing) surrounding all or most of a second body. Amotor may include without limitation, any electric motor, where anelectric motor is a device that converts electrical energy intomechanical work for instance by causing a shaft to rotate. A motor maybe driven by direct current (DC) electric power; for instance, a motormay include a brushed DC motor or the like. A motor may be driven byelectric power having varied or reversing voltage levels, such asalternating current (AC) power as produced by an alternating currentgenerator and/or inverter, or otherwise varying power, such as producedby a switching power source. A motor may include, without limitation, abrushless DC electric motor, a permanent magnet synchronous motor, aswitched reluctance motor, and/or an induction motor; persons skilled inthe art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be awareof various alternative or additional forms and/or configurations that amotor may take or exemplify as consistent with this disclosure. Inaddition to inverter and/or switching power source, a circuit drivingmotor may include electronic speed controllers or other components forregulating motor speed, rotation direction, torque, and/or dynamicbraking. Motor may include or be connected to one or more sensorsdetecting one or more conditions of motor; one or more conditions mayinclude, without limitation, voltage levels, electromotive force,current levels, temperature, current speed of rotation, positionsensors, and the like. For instance, and without limitation, one or moresensors may be used to detect back-EMF, or to detect parameters used todetermine back-EMF, as described in further detail below. One or moresensors may include a plurality of current sensors, voltage sensors, andspeed or position feedback sensors. One or more sensors may communicatea current status of motor to a flight controller and/or a computingdevice; computing device may include any computing device as describedin this disclosure, including without limitation, a flight controller.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , a motor may be connected to athrust element. Thrust element may include any device or component thatconverts mechanical work, for example of a motor or engine, into thrustin a fluid medium. Thrust element may include, without limitation, adevice using moving or rotating foils, including without limitation oneor more rotors, an airscrew or propeller, a set of airscrews orpropellers such as contra-rotating propellers or co-rotating propellers,a moving or flapping wing, or the like. Thrust element may includewithout limitation a marine propeller or screw, an impeller, a turbine,a pump-jet, a paddle or paddle-based device, or the like. Thrust elementmay include a rotor. Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing theentirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various devices that maybe used as thrust element. A thrust element may include any device orcomponent that converts mechanical energy (i.e., work) of a motor, forinstance in form of rotational motion of a shaft, into thrust within afluid medium. As another non-limiting example, a thrust element mayinclude an eight-bladed pusher propeller, such as an eight-bladedpropeller mounted behind the engine to ensure the drive shaft is incompression.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , in nonlimiting embodiments, atleast a flight component 1408 may include an airbreathing engine such asa jet engine, turbojet engine, turboshaft engine, ramjet engine,scramjet engine, hybrid propulsion system, turbofan engine, or the like.At least a flight component 1408 may be fueled by any fuel described inthis disclosure, for instance without limitation Jet-A, Jet-B, dieselfuel, gasoline, or the like. In nonlimiting embodiments, a jet engine isa type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet that generatesthrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can includerocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term jet engine, in somecases, refers to an internal combustion airbreathing jet engine such asa turbojet, turbofan, ramjet, or pulse jet. In general, jet engines areinternal combustion engines. As used in this disclosure, a “combustionengine” is a mechanical device that is configured to convert mechanicalwork from heat produced by combustion of a fuel. In some cases, acombustion engine may operate according to an approximation of athermodynamic cycle, such as without limitation a Carnot cycle, a Chengcycle, a Combined cycle, a Brayton cycle, an Otto cycle, an Allam powercycle, a Kalina cycle, a Rankine cycle, and/or the like. In some cases,a combustion engine may include an internal combustion engine. Aninternal combustion engine may include heat engine in which combustionof fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamberthat comprises a part of a working fluid flow circuit. Exemplaryinternal combustion engines may without limitation a reciprocatingengine (e.g., 4-stroke engine), a combustion turbine engine (e.g., jetengines, gas turbines, Brayton cycle engines, and the like), a rotaryengine (e.g., Wankel engines), and the like. In nonlimiting embodiments,airbreathing jet engines feature a rotating air compressor powered by aturbine, with leftover power providing thrust through a propellingnozzle—this process may be known as a Brayton thermodynamic cycle. Jetaircraft may use such engines for long-distance travel. Early jetaircraft used turbojet engines that were relatively inefficient forsubsonic flight. Most modern subsonic jet aircraft use more complexhigh-bypass turbofan engines. In some cases, they give higher speed andgreater fuel efficiency than piston and propeller aeroengines over longdistances. A few air-breathing engines made for highspeed applications(ramjets and scramjets) may use a ram effect of aircraft's speed insteadof a mechanical compressor. An airbreathing jet engine (or ducted jetengine) may emit a jet of hot exhaust gases formed from air that isforced into the engine by several stages of centrifugal, axial or ramcompression, which is then heated and expanded through a nozzle. In somecases, a majority of mass flow through an airbreathing jet engine may beprovided by air taken from outside of the engine and heated internally,using energy stored in the form of fuel. In some cases, a jet engine mayinclude are turbofans. Alternatively and/or additionally, jet engine mayinclude a turbojets. In some cases, a turbofan may use a gas turbineengine core with high overall pressure ratio (e.g., 40:1) and highturbine entry temperature (e.g., about 1800 K) and provide thrust with aturbine-powered fan stage. In some cases, thrust may also be at leastpartially provided by way of pure exhaust thrust (as in a turbojetengine). In some cases, a turbofan may have a high efficiency, relativeto a turbojet. In some cases, a jet engine may use simple ram effect(e.g., ramjet) or pulse combustion (e.g., pulsejet) to give compression.Persons skilled in the art, upon reviewing the entirety of thisdisclosure, will be aware of various devices that may be used as athrust element.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , an aircraft 1400 may include aflight controller. As used in this disclosure, a “flight controller” isa device that generates signals for controlling at least a flightcomponent 1408 of an aircraft 1400. In some cases, a flight controllerincludes electronic circuitry, such as without limitation a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), and/or a computing device. Flight controller may use sensorfeedback to calculate performance parameters of motor, including withoutlimitation a torque versus speed operation envelope. Persons skilled inthe art, upon reviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be awareof various devices and/or components that may be used as or included ina motor or a circuit operating a motor, as used, and described in thisdisclosure.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , computing device may include anycomputing device as described in this disclosure, including withoutlimitation a microcontroller, microprocessor, digital signal processor(DSP) and/or system on a chip (SoC) as described in this disclosure.Computing device may include, be included in, and/or communicate with amobile device such as a mobile telephone or smartphone. Computing devicemay include a single computing device operating independently, or mayinclude two or more computing device operating in concert, in parallel,sequentially or the like; two or more computing devices may be includedtogether in a single computing device or in two or more computingdevices. Computing device may interface or communicate with one or moreadditional devices as described below in further detail via a networkinterface device. Network interface device may be utilized forconnecting computing device to one or more of a variety of networks, andone or more devices. Examples of a network interface device include, butare not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile networkinterface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof.Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide areanetwork (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local areanetwork (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campusor other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a datanetwork associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobilecommunications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connectionbetween two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A networkmay employ a wired and/or a wireless mode of communication. In general,any network topology may be used. Information (e.g., data, softwareetc.) may be communicated to and/or from a computer and/or a computingdevice. Computing device may include but is not limited to, for example,a computing device or cluster of computing devices in a first locationand a second computing device or cluster of computing devices in asecond location. Computing device may include one or more computingdevices dedicated to data storage, security, distribution of traffic forload balancing, and the like. Computing device may distribute one ormore computing tasks as described below across a plurality of computingdevices of computing device, which may operate in parallel, in series,redundantly, or in any other manner used for distribution of tasks ormemory between computing devices. Computing device may be implementedusing a “shared nothing” architecture in which data is cached at theworker, in an embodiment, this may enable scalability of system 1400and/or computing device.

With continued reference to FIG. 14 , computing device may be designedand/or configured to perform any method, method step, or sequence ofmethod steps in any embodiment described in this disclosure, in anyorder and with any degree of repetition. For instance, computing devicemay be configured to perform a single step or sequence repeatedly untila desired or commanded outcome is achieved; repetition of a step or asequence of steps may be performed iteratively and/or recursively usingoutputs of previous repetitions as inputs to subsequent repetitions,aggregating inputs and/or outputs of repetitions to produce an aggregateresult, reduction or decrement of one or more variables such as globalvariables, and/or division of a larger processing task into a set ofiteratively addressed smaller processing tasks. Computing device mayperform any step or sequence of steps as described in this disclosure inparallel, such as simultaneously and/or substantially simultaneouslyperforming a step two or more times using two or more parallel threads,processor cores, or the like; division of tasks between parallel threadsand/or processes may be performed according to any protocol suitable fordivision of tasks between iterations. Persons skilled in the art, uponreviewing the entirety of this disclosure, will be aware of various waysin which steps, sequences of steps, processing tasks, and/or data may besubdivided, shared, or otherwise dealt with using iteration, recursion,and/or parallel processing.

Now referring to FIG. 15 , a block diagram for a method 1500 of methodof use for an aircraft fueling apparatus. At Step 1505 of method 1500includes receiving at least a container, as described above in referenceto FIGS. 1-15 .

Still referring to FIG. 15 , at step 1510, method 1500 includes using atranslocation device configured to carry the at least a container, to afirst position, as described above in reference to FIGS. 1-15 .

Still referring to FIG. 15 , at step 1515, method 1500 includesdirecting the translocation device using an orientation guidance track,wherein the orientation guidance track is configured to direct themovement of the translocation device to a first position, as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1-15 .

Still referring to FIG. 15 , the at least a container may include a fueltank. The at least a container may also include a septum. The at least acontainer may be configured to have a multi-lobe geometry. Themulti-lobe geometry may provide a pure tension for each fuel tank of themulti-lobe geometry. The orientation guidance track may be orientedlongitudinally within the aircraft. The orientation guidance track mayalso be configured to restrain movement of the translocation device. Theorientation guidance may be configured to be in a L-shape. The aircraftmay include a blended wing body aircraft.

It is to be noted that any one or more of the aspects and embodimentsdescribed herein may be conveniently implemented using one or moremachines (e.g., one or more computing devices that are utilized as auser computing device for an electronic document, one or more serverdevices, such as a document server, etc.) programmed according to theteachings of the present specification, as will be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the computer art. Appropriate software coding canreadily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of thepresent disclosure, as will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe software art. Aspects and implementations discussed above employingsoftware and/or software modules may also include appropriate hardwarefor assisting in the implementation of the machine executableinstructions of the software and/or software module.

Such software may be a computer program product that employs amachine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable storage medium maybe any medium that is capable of storing and/or encoding a sequence ofinstructions for execution by a machine (e.g., a computing device) andthat causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologies and/orembodiments described herein. Examples of a machine-readable storagemedium include, but are not limited to, a magnetic disk, an optical disc(e.g., CD, CD-R, DVD, DVD-R, etc.), a magneto-optical disk, a read-onlymemory “ROM” device, a random-access memory “RAM” device, a magneticcard, an optical card, a solid-state memory device, an EPROM, an EEPROM,and any combinations thereof. A machine-readable medium, as used herein,is intended to include a single medium as well as a collection ofphysically separate media, such as, for example, a collection of compactdiscs or one or more hard disk drives in combination with a computermemory. As used herein, a machine-readable storage medium does notinclude transitory forms of signal transmission.

Such software may also include information (e.g., data) carried as adata signal on a data carrier, such as a carrier wave. For example,machine-executable information may be included as a data-carrying signalembodied in a data carrier in which the signal encodes a sequence ofinstruction, or portion thereof, for execution by a machine (e.g., acomputing device) and any related information (e.g., data structures anddata) that causes the machine to perform any one of the methodologiesand/or embodiments described herein.

Examples of a computing device include, but are not limited to, anelectronic book reading device, a computer workstation, a terminalcomputer, a server computer, a handheld device (e.g., a tablet computer,a smartphone, etc.), a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, any machine capable of executing a sequence ofinstructions that specify an action to be taken by that machine, and anycombinations thereof. In one example, a computing device may includeand/or be included in a kiosk.

FIG. 16 shows a diagrammatic representation of one embodiment of acomputing device in the exemplary form of a computer system 1600 withinwhich a set of instructions for causing a control system to perform anyone or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the presentdisclosure may be executed. It is also contemplated that multiplecomputing devices may be utilized to implement a specially configuredset of instructions for causing one or more of the devices to performany one or more of the aspects and/or methodologies of the presentdisclosure. Computer system 1600 includes a processor 1604 and a memory1608 that communicate with each other, and with other components, via abus 1612. Bus 1612 may include any of several types of bus structuresincluding, but not limited to, a memory bus, a memory controller, aperipheral bus, a local bus, and any combinations thereof, using any ofa variety of bus architectures.

Processor 1604 may include any suitable processor, such as withoutlimitation a processor incorporating logical circuitry for performingarithmetic and logical operations, such as an arithmetic and logic unit(ALU), which may be regulated with a state machine and directed byoperational inputs from memory and/or sensors; processor 1604 may beorganized according to Von Neumann and/or Harvard architecture as anon-limiting example. Processor 1604 may include, incorporate, and/or beincorporated in, without limitation, a microcontroller, microprocessor,digital signal processor (DSP), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), Graphical Processing Unit(GPU), general purpose GPU, Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), analog ormixed signal processor, Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a floating-pointunit (FPU), and/or system on a chip (SoC).

Memory 1608 may include various components (e.g., machine-readablemedia) including, but not limited to, a random-access memory component,a read only component, and any combinations thereof. In one example, abasic input/output system 1616 (BIOS), including basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system1600, such as during start-up, may be stored in memory 1608. Memory 1608may also include (e.g., stored on one or more machine-readable media)instructions (e.g., software) 1620 embodying any one or more of theaspects and/or methodologies of the present disclosure. In anotherexample, memory 1608 may further include any number of program modulesincluding, but not limited to, an operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, program data, and anycombinations thereof.

Computer system 1600 may also include a storage device 1624. Examples ofa storage device (e.g., storage device 1624) include, but are notlimited to, a hard disk drive, a magnetic disk drive, an optical discdrive in combination with an optical medium, a solid-state memorydevice, and any combinations thereof. Storage device 1624 may beconnected to bus 1612 by an appropriate interface (not shown). Exampleinterfaces include, but are not limited to, SCSI, advanced technologyattachment (ATA), serial ATA, universal serial bus (USB), IEEE 1394(FIREWIRE), and any combinations thereof. In one example, storage device1624 (or one or more components thereof) may be removably interfacedwith computer system 1600 (e.g., via an external port connector (notshown)). Particularly, storage device 1624 and an associatedmachine-readable medium 1628 may provide nonvolatile and/or volatilestorage of machine-readable instructions, data structures, programmodules, and/or other data for computer system 1600. In one example,software 1620 may reside, completely or partially, withinmachine-readable medium 1628. In another example, software 1620 mayreside, completely or partially, within processor 1604.

Computer system 1600 may also include an input device 1632. In oneexample, a user of computer system 1600 may enter commands and/or otherinformation into computer system 1600 via input device 1632. Examples ofan input device 1632 include, but are not limited to, an alpha-numericinput device (e.g., a keyboard), a pointing device, a joystick, agamepad, an audio input device (e.g., a microphone, a voice responsesystem, etc.), a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse), a touchpad, anoptical scanner, a video capture device (e.g., a still camera, a videocamera), a touchscreen, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1632may be interfaced to bus 1612 via any of a variety of interfaces (notshown) including, but not limited to, a serial interface, a parallelinterface, a game port, a USB interface, a FIREWIRE interface, a directinterface to bus 1612, and any combinations thereof. Input device 1632may include a touch screen interface that may be a part of or separatefrom display 1636, discussed further below. Input device 1632 may beutilized as a user selection device for selecting one or more graphicalrepresentations in a graphical interface as described above.

A user may also input commands and/or other information to computersystem 1600 via storage device 1624 (e.g., a removable disk drive, aflash drive, etc.) and/or network interface device 1640. A networkinterface device, such as network interface device 1640, may be utilizedfor connecting computer system 1600 to one or more of a variety ofnetworks, such as network 1644, and one or more remote devices 1648connected thereto. Examples of a network interface device include, butare not limited to, a network interface card (e.g., a mobile networkinterface card, a LAN card), a modem, and any combination thereof.Examples of a network include, but are not limited to, a wide areanetwork (e.g., the Internet, an enterprise network), a local areanetwork (e.g., a network associated with an office, a building, a campusor other relatively small geographic space), a telephone network, a datanetwork associated with a telephone/voice provider (e.g., a mobilecommunications provider data and/or voice network), a direct connectionbetween two computing devices, and any combinations thereof. A network,such as network 1644, may employ a wired and/or a wireless mode ofcommunication. In general, any network topology may be used. Information(e.g., data, software 1620, etc.) may be communicated to and/or fromcomputer system 1600 via network interface device 1640.

Computer system 1600 may further include a video display adapter 1652for communicating a displayable image to a display device, such asdisplay device 1636. Examples of a display device include, but are notlimited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), aplasma display, a light emitting diode (LED) display, and anycombinations thereof. Display adapter 1652 and display device 1636 maybe utilized in combination with processor 1604 to provide graphicalrepresentations of aspects of the present disclosure. In addition to adisplay device, computer system 1600 may include one or more otherperipheral output devices including, but not limited to, an audiospeaker, a printer, and any combinations thereof. Such peripheral outputdevices may be connected to bus 1612 via a peripheral interface 1656.Examples of a peripheral interface include, but are not limited to, aserial port, a USB connection, a FIREWIRE connection, a parallelconnection, and any combinations thereof.

The foregoing has been a detailed description of illustrativeembodiments of the invention. Various modifications and additions can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.Features of each of the various embodiments described above may becombined with features of other described embodiments as appropriate inorder to provide a multiplicity of feature combinations in associatednew embodiments. Furthermore, while the foregoing describes a number ofseparate embodiments, what has been described herein is merelyillustrative of the application of the principles of the presentinvention. Additionally, although particular methods herein may beillustrated and/or described as being performed in a specific order, theordering is highly variable within ordinary skill to achieve methods,systems, and software according to the present disclosure. Accordingly,this description is meant to be taken only by way of example, and not tootherwise limit the scope of this invention.

Exemplary embodiments have been disclosed above and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. It will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes, omissions, and additions may be made to that whichis specifically disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the present invention.

1. An aircraft fueling apparatus, wherein the apparatus comprises: atleast a container comprising: a fuel tank configured to store aliquified gas fuel; and at least a vent configured to vent gaseous fuelfrom the container, wherein the at least a vent comprises a check valve;a translocation device comprising a platform mechanically attached to aplurality of wheels, configured to carry the at least a container; andan orientation guidance track, wherein the orientation guidance trackcomprises a conveyor belt configured to direct a movement of thetranslocation device to a first position.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the apparatus is configured to transport the at least acontainer from the first position to a second position, wherein, in thefirst position, the at least a container is located aft of a cabin in amain body of an aircraft, and wherein, in the second position, the atleast a container is located exterior of the aircraft.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein the at least a container is configured to have amulti-lobe geometry.
 4. (canceled)
 5. The apparatus of claim 3, whereinthe multi-lobe geometry provides tension in a wall of a container. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fuel comprises liquid hydrogenfuel.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the orientation guidancetrack is located at least partially within the aircraft and theorientation guidance track is oriented longitudinally within theaircraft.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the orientation guidancetrack is configured to restrain movement of the translocation device. 9.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the orientation guidance track isL-shaped.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the aircraft is ablended wing body aircraft.
 11. A method of use for an aircraft fuelingapparatus, wherein the method comprises: receiving at least a containercomprising a fuel tank and at least a vent, wherein the at least a ventcomprises a check valve; transporting the container, using atranslocation device comprising a platform mechanically attached to aplurality of wheels, configured to carry the at least a container, to afirst position; and directing the translocation device using anorientation guidance track, wherein the orientation guidance trackcomprises a conveyor belt configured to direct the movement of thetranslocation device to the first position.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein transporting the container comprises transporting the at least acontainer from the first position to a second position, wherein, in thefirst position, the at least a container is located aft of a cabin in amain body of an aircraft, and wherein, in the second position, the atleast a container is located exterior of the aircraft.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the at least a container is configured to have amulti-lobe geometry.
 14. (canceled)
 15. The method of claim 13, whereinthe multi-lobe geometry provides tension in a wall of a container. 16.The method of claim 11, wherein the fuel comprises liquid hydrogen fuel.17. The method of claim 11, wherein the orientation guidance track isoriented longitudinally within the aircraft.
 18. The method of claim 11,wherein the orientation guidance track is configured to restrainmovement of the translocation device.
 19. The method of claim 11,wherein the orientation guidance track is L-shaped.
 20. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the aircraft comprises a blended wing body aircraft.21. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least a vent further comprisesa pressure regulator.
 22. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least avent further comprises a pressure regulator.